Fitzwilliam Darcy
GENTLEMAN
Book I
An Assembly Such as This
by Pamela Aidan

 
AnAssemblybookcover

Paperback -  224  pages - (August 2003) 
Wytherngate Press; ISBN 0972852905
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        Written by Wende (December 26, 2003 )
I recommend "An Assembly Such As This" very, very, very much. If you liked Confessions of FD, then I am sure that you will like Assembly. It is the 1st book in a set of 3 (which will be coming out later) the author (Pamela Aidan) is just wonderful.
        Written by Shinjinee (March 18, 2004 )
Let us stick then to At Such an Assembly as This (which I have recommended to at least one Austen-reading friend) and to other published sequels. If you have read this or other P&P adaptations, and know about Pamela's style of writing and her unique POV, I would love to read what you have to say.
         Written by Karen 2L (March 18, 2004 ) 
 Pamela's work is so far superior to Aylmer's work. It's like tapestry versus burlap. The richness of the weaving is remarkable. While it's really Pamela's own POV and invention, you get a real idea of Darcy's wealth. Not just numbers or servants, but what his London lifestyle is like. Georgiana becomes a key figure and Pamela's original characters, such as Lord Dyfed Brougham, are as fascinating as they are Austen-compatible.
        Written by Terry (March 20, 2004 )
]  Pamela's sequel  versus Aylmer's work. It's like tapestry versus burlap. The richness of the weaving is remarkable. While it's really Pamela's own POV and invention, you get a real idea of Darcy's wealth. Not just numbers or servants, but what his London lifestyle is like. Georgiana becomes a key figure and Pamela's original characters, such as Lord Dyfed Brougham, are as fascinating as they are Austen-compatible.

I agree with you, Karen 2L. I was very impressed with how she was able to write a book from a male POV and make it so believable. I have had the good fortune to make Pamela's acquaintance (very lovely and intelligent lady) and I asked her how she had managed to get Darcy's thoughts and actions so on target. She said she was raised with brothers and has three sons of her own which gives her some insight. I've read a lot of the sequels, prequels, and what-have-you's, and Pamela Aidan's book is vastly superior.

        Written by Shinjinee (March 21, 2004 )
That is exactly what I wanted to know, and the kind of feedback I was hoping to get. When I first read her stories for At Such An Assembly as This, her tone and language struck me as being the most authentic that I had read among all the P& P sequels, adaptations, etc. [The only ones that I liked better were Joan Austen-Leigh's versions of Emma, but that was a different novel!].

I don't have the print version (which came out after I left the States), but when all three come out, I will be getting them even if I have the e-versions. I don't have an e-book reader (although I am considerably tempted) and still love having paper books anyway.

         Written by Vania (March 21, 2004 ) 
 Will you accept the thoughts of a dissenter? =) I liked 'An Assembly...' but there were parts where I thought it too wordy and flowery than how JA's Darcy was supposed to be. My main point of comparison is his letter to Lizzy in P&P and a letter to Georgiana in AASAT.

I still bought a copy, however. =) It's a very good Darcy POV story in that Darcy's thoughts, feelings and motives are well-thought of. It's worth owning, IMO. In rating the Darcy POV's:

1. The Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy
2. An Assembly Such as This
3. Darcy's Story
4. The Diary of Henry Fitzwilliam Darcy

        Written by Shinjinee (March 22, 2004 )
Thanks for rating the adaptations too. I am always on the lookout for differing opinions anyway; that is part of what makes RoP successful IMHO. As for the wordiness, you are right about that. I cannot remember too much of the text in the first book (which is the one under discussion), but it has been troubling me a bit in later ones (which we will not discuss because of AOA guidelines). OTOH, I did get a real sense of how Darcy might have been feeling in the first book, and I certainly appreciated the effort Pamela took to stay authentic to the text (unlike Emma Tennant!) and the sensibilities of the age (unlike many other writers).
        Written by Alessia (March 22, 2004)
True, I remember I had this same thought when I read AASAT...I like this book very much but sometimes it makes me think that the author was more influenced by the tv adaptation than by the novel itself, as other posters have already pointed out.
I'd like to ask you the same question Shinjinee asked: what makes "the Confessions of..." so worthy and superior to others sequels? I've never read any sequel, apart from "An Assembly" and I'd very much like to know if some of them are really good and worth buying. Thank you!
        Written by Luanne (5/9/2004 10:49 p.m.)
I just finished reading Pamela Aidan's "An Assembly Such As This". Please can anyone tell me when the next is due out? I thoroughly enjoyed this one.
        Written by Kathi (2/13/2005 9:06 p.m.)

I liked An Assembly Such as This pretty well, except for the conversation between Darcy and Bingley about Bingley's marriage to Jane, which was totally inconsistent with Darcy's description of it.

         Written by Sarah Catherine (2/18/2005 10:58 p.m.)  
 I read An Assembly Such As This and found it very enjoyable - a bit awkward in places but increasingly sure-footed in the way it revealed Darcy's social uncertainties and how Wickham's treatment of his sister still threw a shadow over him.

         Written by Kathleen Glancy  (6/6/2005 5:35 p.m.)
It seems like more of an alternative viewpoint than a sequel, a popular area. There's the Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman trilogy of which I liked the first book and was disappointed in the second, but have great hopes of the the yet unpublished third.

        Written by Katy B (3/4/2006 1:19 a.m.)
I have just finished Pamela Aidan's trilogy from Darcy's point of view. I liked it pretty well, even though the second book was kind of weird. It's worth reading, certainly, and I liked the way she integrated P&P dialog very accurately, and was never influenced by adaptations that I could tell!

        Written by Julie Rae (January 19, 2007 )
I think this series is awful. I read "An Assembly Such As This" with high hopes...I'm truly a sucker for P&P sequals...however, while the 1st book in the series gave me hope that the 2nd and 3rd would be better, I was disappointed. I didn't even bother to read the 3rd book becuase the first 2 were just ridiculous.

You may disagree with me, but I believe that while Darcy is the 'reluctant hero', he is not an 'every man's man'.

Please, form your own opinion, but check the series out at the library so you don't waste your money.

        Written by JaneGS (January 22, 2007 )
I enjoyed Aidan's three books very much, particularly the first and third and would not hesitate to recommend them.

The writing is good, the characters are true to the original in tone and action, and Aidan has added enough from her own imagination to flesh out Darcy's life and make the novels stand on their own apart from P&P.

I don't read sequels often myself--apart from some fanfiction, I've only read these books and Darcy's Story. Aidan's three books far outstrip Darcy's Story with regards to story telling and depth.

        Written by Isabel (January 23, 2007 )
I thought this series is wonderful even though I thought the 2nd book, Duty and Desire, was a little week with the "gothic" theme towards the end. However, I have read These Three Remain twice already and just started reading it for the 3rd time. I love how we, the reader, are constantly in Darcy's head and how the situation looks like from his vantage point.